O’Gorman: They should savour this for a long time
But shortly before 3pm yesterday he happily welcomed a new list of names to that group following the county’s thrilling victory in the All-Ireland MHC final.
O’Gorman, a member of the 1992 side which won the All-Ireland U21 crown, had some sage advice for the county’s latest GAA stars.
“It’s absolutely brilliant. There’s 34 lads in there on that panel and they should savour this for a long time because nothing beats playing it.
“I was lucky enough to win one 21 years ago with the under 21s and it’s great to be involved with the lads. There’s nothing like playing it and they should savour it and enjoy every moment of it.”
The Lismore clubman conceded they hit a rough patch during the third quarter but he praised their gutsy response. “It was looking a bit hairy. I felt that the lads could just lift it a bit. Small things weren’t going their way but we got two or three scores. Tom Devine got a great point to put us one up and then Austin Gleeson got a superb point from a free. I think that we played with a bit of freedom after those scores. It was only then that they believed that we could go on and win this thing.”
He highlighted the man of the match input from Patrick Curran, who hit 1-7, including the crucial goal four minutes from time. O’Gorman said: “What a performance by Patrick Curran, he was unbelievable. We knew that it was in him because he was playing brilliant all the year. He was just head and shoulders above anybody out on that field.”
Waterford scored 1-6 in the final ten minutes, with only a solitary Galway point in reply. O’Gorman saw them release all the nerves and play with abandon. “Once they got the belief that they could go on and win it, I thought they were outstanding in the last ten minutes. They didn’t want to lose, you could see it. Galway threw everything at them and the lads fought and fought and fought. It’s a pleasure to be involved with those lads.”
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